Safety guard



May 22, 1923.

H. MILLER SAFETY GUARD Filed May 10. 1921 HERMAN MILLER, or new roan, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR GE ONE-FOURTH TO NORMAN MILLER, ONE-FOURTH TO NATHAN I /IILLEE, AND ONE-FOURTH TO ISIDORE L.

MILLER, ALL OF NEW ORK, N. Y.

SAFETY Application filed May 10,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN Minnnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful linprovements in Safet Guards, of which the following is a specifi cation.

My present invention relates to safety guards of the general character shown in my co-pending application Ser. No. 364,481. The present invention relates to a guard for protecting the hands of the operator of a machine having a reciprocating piercing member, to prevent injury to the hands. I have shown my present invention applied to a sewing machine to protect the opera tors hands against injury by the needle and also as applied to astamping press to protect the operators hands against injury by the movable plunger or die member.

One object of my invention is to provide a guard which will at all times prevent the operators hands or fingers from coming under the piercing member while the machine is in operation and which will at the same time permit the operator to see the sewing needle or other piercing member in order to more accurately guide the material which is being operated upon. Where the guard is used on a sewing machine the operator may see the line of the needle right down close to the fabric so that the fabric may be accurately fed with relation to the line of stitching. This is especially important where the stitches are to be made close to the edge of the fabric and wherever accurate work is to be performed, although the feature is a very desirable one for all purposes. Another object is to provide a guard for a sewing machine needle having a slot tiirough which the free end of the thread at the time the needle is threaded, may be carried, to bring the free end of the thread below the guard, ready for the stitching operation.

As applied to a stamping press the guard makes it possible to see the lower end of the plunger or movable die member in order that the operator may see what is taking place while feeding stock in position to be acted, upon and to determine the-position of the .stock. 1

Anotherobject of my invention is to'pro- GUARD.

1921. Serial No. 458,462.

vide a guard which will be noiseless in operation.

In the drawing forming part of this application,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of part of a sewing machine, showing my improved guard applied thereto,

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, showing the needle in lowered position and the guard elements telescoped or collapsed,

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the guard with the needle in raised position, v V

Figure l is an inverted plan view of the guard,

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the needle shaft, showing the guard in plan,

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view through the guard showing the telescoping sections in plan,

Figure 7 is a rear elevation of the upper portion of the guard, showing the means for preventing noise in the operation of the guard,

Figure 8 is a front elevation and Figure 9 is a side elevation of parts of a stamping press showing my improvec. guard applied thereto. I

Referring first to the application of my invention to a sewing machine as shown in Figures 1 to 7. l have here shown the reciprocating shaft 1 of a sewing machine and at its lower end this shaft carries the sewing needle 2 which has a fabric piercing point 3 and the thread eye l, all of which may be of any well known, or special, construction. I have also shown the presser foot 5 attached to its red 6 and the presser foot performs the usual functions of such member of a sewing machine. In Figures 1 and 2 I have also shown the fabric plate 7 and a strip of fabric 5% being fed over this plate and under the pressure foot in the usual manner. I

In this form of my invention I have shown a block 9 which has a vertical aperture l0 therethroughto receive through it the needle shaft; and it has a notch 11 to partly receive the needle 2. The needle shaft has a corresponding notch 12 for the same purpose. Inside the aperture 10 of the block there is a plate 13 whichis forced against the needle shaft by the screw 14 the'plate 13 all tightly er so thatale needle and the guard will move with theneedle shaft. I prefer to use this means of attaching the guard though other means of attaching may be used.

The block 9 therefore, rises and falls with the needle shaft 1 during the stitching op--' eration of the machine. There is a slot or recess 15 formed vertically through the back of the block 9 and a cap 16 secured to the block 9 by rivets 17 forms a fourth wall for this slot 15 in which is guided a freely slidable flat bar 1.8 which forms part of the movable or sliding device of the guard. This flat bar 18 has a stud or pin 19 surrounding the neck of which is a fibre washer 20 that rests in a circular recess 21 in the cap 16 for the purpose of supporting the sliding devlce of the guard in its lowermost position. The use of this washer of fibre or similar noiseless material prevents a metal to metal striking action of the movable device and the block 9 and this eliminates substantially all sound in the operation of the device, which is one of the features of my present invention. g

The fiat bar 18 is approximately the length of the needle 2 and at its lower end there is formed a fixed, annular member 22 forming part of the guard proper. This annular member 22 surrounds the needle 2, the latter being movable freely through it, and when the parts are all in their raised position the eye 1 of the needle is just above the top edge of the member 22 so that it is accessible from either side for receiving the sewing thread in the operation of threading the needle. The point 3 of the needle, however, never rises above the top edge of this member 22 while the machine is in operation.

There is a second section or cup 23 slidably fitting in the member 22 and it is pre vented from falling away from the latter member by means of a projecting flange 24 on the member 23 engaging the'inwardly projecting flange 25 on the member 22. These two members .22 and 23 are therefore adapted to telescope so that the member 23 may lieinside the member 22 or project below it and form a tubular extension thereof. Preferably in like manner there is a third section or cup 26 slidable in the cup 23 and it is limited in its downward movement by an outwardly extending flange '27 which rests on the inwardly extending flange 28 of the cup member 23. The cup 26 may telescope in the cup member 23 and both ofthese may telescope in the annular member 22. There is a ring 29 seated in the member 22 to prevent the cup 23 from jumping out of place or freeing itself from the member 22. The cups 26 and 23 are so formed that they can not revolve one inside the other-and so that neither one can revolve inside the annular member 22. To accomplish this I prefer to make the cups 26 and 23 oval or oblong in cross section, as shown in Figures 4 and 6 and to seat the cup 23, in an oval or oblong bore 30 in the annular member 22. l Vith this shape of the parts the cup 23 can not revolve in the annular member 22 and the cup 26 can not revolve in the cup 23, while the parts are moving up and down. Any cross sectional shape other than round will accom-.- plish the same result but I prefer the oval shape shown herein as a simple and eflicient one which will not cause the parts to bind.

The annular member 22 is' provided with shaft is in raised position the thread 34 coming from the source of supply is passed through the opening 35 to be guided by the curved thread guide 36 as it feeds to the needle. The end of the thread is passed through the eye 4 of the needle fromeither side and the eye of the needle lies near or slightly above the top of the annular member 22 and it is therefore accessible for re ceiving the thread. The free end of the thread is then pulled 3 down and passed through the slots 31,- 32. 33 so-that this free end will extend through the members 22,23, 26 and be ready to be stitched to the fabric when the machine is started. By thus passing the free end through the guard members 22, 23, 26 there is nothing to impede the stitching operation nor to draw the thread out of the eye of the needle and the slots provide an easy and quick way of getting the free end of the thread through the guard members. If the machine is now started,

the needle shaft 1 needle 2 and block 9 the support of the guard at the pin 19 is withdrawn bythe descent of the block 9 with the'nedle shaft and the bar 181 and the annular member 22 descend with thebloc'k 9. As this action takes plao'efthf annular member 22 telescopes over the cup 23 and both of these telescope over the lower cup 26, which latter rests on the presser foot, until, at the end of the downward stroke of the needle shaft, the parts assiune the position shown in Figure 2, or a condition somewhat similar to this.

When the needle shaft rises, the plate 16 at some moment in its upward movement will come into contact with the washer 20 without causing any appreciable sound as it strikes this washer. From this moment the late 16 carriesvupwardly the bar 18 and the annular member 22. The flange 25 will come again into contact with the flange 24: and then the cup 23 will start to rise with the annular member 22. The flange 28 will subsequently come into contact with the flange 27 and the lower cup will remain resting on the presser foot. If the latter rises in the ordinary operation of the machine in feeding the fabric the lower cup 26 may telescope slightly within the cup 23. The above operations are repeated at each full stroke of the needle shaft and the point of the needle is at all times enclosed and protected by the telescoping members, which prevent the fingers getting under the point of the needle.

The slots 31, 32, 33 not only permit the end of the thread to be carried readily below the guard when the needle is threaded but the operator may see the needle through these slots and in this way be able to follow the exact line of stitching. This avoids any objection that the guard might obstruct the operators view and control of the work.

The Figures 8 and 9. I have shown the guard applied to a stamping press. Here the bar 18 of the guard slides in a vertical slot 15 in the block 9 which is secured to the vertical shaft 37 of the press. This bar performs the same functions as the bar 18 in the first form of the invention. On the lower end of this bar 18 there is carried the annular member 22 andthis in turn carries the telescoping cups 23, 26 which correspond with the cups of the first form. The annular member 22 and the cups 23, 26 surround the plunger or movable die member 38 and prevent the hand of the operator getting under this member. The lower cup rests on the stripper plate 39 of the press. In this instance the annular member 22 and the cups 23, 26 are also provided with the vertical slots 31, 32, 33 so that the operator may see the lower end of the plunger or die member 38 and therefore properly gauge the position of the stock in relation thereto.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1; A guard for a machine having a reciprocating member adapted to operate on stock fed to the machine, of means for guarding the lower end of the reciprocating member of the machine, comprising telescoping members surrounding the reciprocating member, said telescoping members having vertically aligning slots for the purpose set forth, and means for preventing said telescoping members from revolving to maintain said slots in alignment.

2. A guard for a machine having a needle shaft and a needle, of an annular member surrounding the needle, means for movably supporting the annular member on the needle shaft, other annular members supported by said first annular member and adapted to telescope in relation to each other and to said first annular member, said annular-members having vertically aligning slots for the purpose set forth.

3. A guard for a machine having a needle shaft and a needle, comprising a member surrounding the needle of said machine for the purpose set forth, a slide on said guard, a stud for securing the slide to the needle shaft, and a washer of noiseless material surrounding said stud and limiting the relative movement of said slide and said needle shaft.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York, this 5th day of May, 1921.

HERMAN MILLER. 

